Making smart seafood decisions for today and tomorrow.

Skipjack Tuna

From:

U.S. North Atlantic

Method:

Wild, Greenstick

Skipjack tuna throughout the world’s oceans are healthy and abundant. Most skipjack worldwide are caught with purse seines, and a small amount is caught with handline, troll and pole-and-line. Fishing with purse seines using Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), also called associated purse seine, results in bycatch of juvenile tuna, sharks, and other species that are attracted to the FADs. Unassociated purse seining, also called FAD-free or free school purse seine, results in lower levels of bycatch.

Skipjack caught with purse seines using FADs are rated “Avoid” because of concerns with bycatch of sharks, juvenile tuna, and other species, and a lack of effective management of the potential impacts of FADs. Bycatch is much lower in the FAD-free purse seine (also called unassociated, or free school) fishery, which is ranked as “Some Concerns” rather than a “Best Choice” because of bycatch of some species of concern such as manta rays and whale sharks. All skipjack caught with handline, troll and pole-and-line is either a “Best Choice” or ranked “Some Concerns”, depending on the status of tuna stocks caught with the skipjack, because the fishing method is benign and creates almost no bycatch. The Marine Stewardship Council certifies some skipjack tuna fisheries as sustainable.